The University of Parma is a privileged place for higher education and the advancement of knowledge and aims to contribute to the improvement of society through the cultural and civil promotion of people and the development of a culture based on the universal values of human rights, peace, international solidarity and environmental protection, as per the University Articles of Association.
The University of Parma is public, multidisciplinary and internationally oriented, focusing on areas that are qualitatively relevant to the attractiveness and sustainability of the education offered. The University pays particular attention to the reception and inclusion of students, also through the services offered and the opportunities developed in close collaboration with other local institutions, to the entry of its graduates into the world of work and to sustainable development issues, in accordance with the University's mission.
These aims are pursued by means of a wide-ranging teaching activity capable of promoting culture, scientific knowledge and the acquisition of new skills; careful attention to promoting internationalisation, through increased penetration of international research and higher education networks; research activity capable of contributing to the advancement of knowledge and carried out in an environment permeated by the drive for innovation; constant dialogue with society, a priority partner for economic and social development, which is achieved by virtue of the transfer of knowledge outside the university environment (third mission).
By carrying out its teaching and scientific activities with persistent attention to the instances of the social, productive and entrepreneurial fabric, both national and international, Università di Parma constantly strives for innovation and improvement, favouring the path towards a culture of quality through the active participation of all stakeholders, the growth of the sense of belonging to the institution of the entire university community and the full exploitation of "human capital". In particular, the primary objective of the Quality Policies adopted by the University of Parma is to apply these general principles in order to guarantee and improve the quality and effectiveness of the teaching processes, research activities and support the services offered, orienting them towards the pursuit of the institutional objectives that provide for transparency, sharing, active participation of the entire university community in quality assurance and improvement processes, as well as a culture of self-assessment and a critical approach to the management of processes that contribute to the quality and the success of the actions implemented.
The implementation of these policies can only take place through the involvement of the entire teaching staff, the technical-administrative staff and the students in a synergic and performing action. Students are at the centre of the University's educational activities and are continuously and attentively looked after from the very first moments of contact with the institution, from orientation activities through to the completion of their education and even after entering the world of work. In order to encourage this process, it is necessary to ensure the representative participation of the student component in all the main bodies that regulate academic activity, as well as to organise and carry out periodic surveys aimed at collecting and analysing their opinions on all the most important aspects of the training process and at the most significant moments in the university career, from the evaluation of the teaching provided in individual lessons to the evaluation of the way exams are conducted, from the evaluation of the overall university experience to the evaluation of the quality of the support services provided, also in relation to the policies pursued jointly with the local authorities, taking care to follow up the suggestions and indications that emerge from these surveys in a constant process of self-assessment and continuous improvement.
In this perspective, therefore, the University of Parma promotes quality assurance and quality enhancement in all areas of activity through which it implements and develops its mission. To this end, the University has put in place a Quality Assurance Management System in Education and a Quality Assurance Management System for Research and the Third Mission inspired by national and international best practices, aimed at guaranteeing the effectiveness and efficiency of training processes, scientific research and third mission activities, as well as resource management.
The University of Parma, taking into account the high cultural, human, ethical and scientific value of the issues related to the various components of sustainability, as expressed in the Articles of Association (Article 1, paragraph 9), is aware of the important contribution that the university world must provide on all issues related to sustainable development and, therefore, in the Strategic Plan 2022-2024 intends to pursue, consolidate and strengthen what has already started in previous programs
